A Scannable Email Resume

A Scannable Email Resume :

The email resume should be set up typographically to be used in email (or in a situation when someone wants a scannable resume - both situations in which extra formatting is not going to translate well). Such a resume should have no italics, no boldface and no other typographic variation to confuse the computers. The page layout should also be simple. Everything should be aligned at the left margin. Read This Page for comparison with a print resume.

Some Suggestions :

• If you're sending your resume out to be read on email, it needs to be short-one or two screens at most.

• If you're sending your resume out to be scanned (read into a computer database), length should not be a major concern. Be sure to use the right keywords, though, because that's what computers that search the databases containing scanned - in resumes look for. Thus if the jobs you're applying for generally involve knowledge, say, of PageMaker, you need to make sure that word appears in your resume. Other typical terms that a personnel director at a publishing house might look for: technical writer, merit scholar or JavaScript. Though such terms vary according to the company and job, be sure your resume prominently includes the key terms that describe your special skills or achievements.

• If you're sending your resume out to be read as an attachment to email, you can use pretty much the same form you would use on a paper version - similar typography, page layout, etc. Length is also the same as on paper.

• More and more companies are consulting Web sites when they look for job candidates. If you want to post a version of your resume on the World Wide Web, there are many good free sites that offer this service, so there is no reason to pay anyone for it. Look on the Web under "Yahoo! Jobs" for a good list of sites.